Become a Youth Volunteer with See Me

Become a Youth Volunteer with See Me

See Me are looking for young volunteers to join their programme and help young people to speak about mental health, so they can get the information, help and support they need.

The volunteers will support See Me to deliver training for young people aged 11-18, as part of See Me’s Education and Young People programme, to tackle mental health stigma and improve the mental health of children and young people in Scotland.

See Me carried out research with 885 young people, which found that only 37% said they would tell someone if they were finding it difficult to cope with their mental health, compared to 78% who would tell someone if they were physically ill.

When asked how they cope with negative thoughts and feelings only 21% said they would speak to someone who supports them, 46% would rather stay by themselves and 50% would cope by crying.

Jayson McSwiggan, a See Me Volunteer from Glasgow, said: “You don’t realise how much change you can make. For me, if I help one person then I’ve done my job, but when you’re together in a group then you can make such a big difference to people’s lives.

“I felt like I was a walking question mark for 16 years of my life, nothing made sense, I didn’t know why I felt like I did. Working with See Me helped, and the work we do will make a huge difference for other young people.”

Laura Sharpe, See Me’s education and young people’s manager, said: “The only way to end mental health stigma and discrimination for children and young people is to work alongside them, actively involving, engaging and empowering them to lead the change they hope to see in the world.

“Mental health impacts on every aspect of young people’s lives and we need them to know that it is okay not to be okay.”

We are looking for volunteers Scotland wide aged 16-25.

Want to find out more? Then come along to our Info Day at the Scottish Youth Theatre on 16th August. Please let us know by 11th August if you want to attend.